Close to the Sky
by Rayne Ulfa
Summary: A lowborn maiden working in House Arryn is sent to a Sky Cell because she loves a Vale knight.


The air was bone cold, and the winds howled mockingly. It was so high up in the castle that the clouds veiled the upper towers. Her name was Tanya Storm. She wondered if she was living in a dream. The Vale was to be her new home for now.

She ended up working there, as a handmaid in service to Lady Arryn. It had been quite magical and something she knew her dead parents would be proud of her for. Her long hair was never so luxurious as it was in the Vale, since using the scented soap to wash herself in fresh water. Days before, some of the vicious hill tribes attacked her and others who were travelling to White Harbour from Storm's End. Everyone fled or were killed, but she was rescued by a knight of the Vale who wore splendid armour.

She was in her twenties and orphaned since childhood. Raised in a town near Rainwood, everyone considered her beautiful and told her to go to Kings Landing, to find work in the establishments, to pleasure the noblest of men. She didn't want to do that. Her father was a soldier, and her mother was a maid who worked at Storms End but they didn't marry when she was born. Tanya wanted more in life. She wanted to climb the ladder and become better.

She stayed at House Arryn for weeks. Things grew dark early that morning when the lady of the house fumed at Tanya with rage. A fat man took her roughly into a small ledge overlooking just nothing. It was called a Sky Cell, where she was just a few feet from death, where the walls didn't exist and the floor was just a few feet wide and sloped a little down to the edge. She sat against the wall. It was freezing cold. The wind howled ferociously. A gust of wind sent ice on her cheeks.

Lady Arryn was angry with her about Ser Vardis Egen, the knight who rescued her from the hill tribe. Vardis took her back with him to the House of Arryn but the weeks were blissful until now.

Ser vardis always smiled at her, and was so kind. She was given a warm room, and nice dresses to wear for her services. Tanya was blessed to be with Ser Vardis on many a night, listening to him talking to her and sometimes more. They shared their bodies together.

Vardis was handsome, with long dark hair. Yet he was a devoted knight, but now Tanya felt with much sadness that she was going to die here. She knew that a knight couldn't abandon his duties over a lowborn girl such as she. He had a boy son, although the wife of Vardis died in childbed. Tanya realised that there was nothing she could do.

Lady Arryn had observed often times when Vardis was looking at pretty Tanya. Enough was enough when another of her maid's whispered into her ear that Vardis and Tanya had been intimate. Lyssa didn't want this bastard wench distracting her fine captain of the guards. So in anger, the lady of the Vale dismissed Tanya from her duties and ordered Mord to place Tanya into a Sky Cell. Lyssa would just leave the girl there as a form of punishment. Who would ever miss that girl?

Vardis didn't enquire the whereabouts of Tanya as far as Lyssa knew. She realised where she was. Then it all came flooding back. Vardis had volunteered to champion Lyssa when Tyrion Lannister asked for a trial by combat. Before the fight happened, Vardis was prepared to duel against the sellsword Bronn. There was too much for Ser Vardis to dwell on, and he had not noticed that Tanya was missing for the past few hours. Lyssa just wanted that Tyrion Lannister gone.

Tanya saw the luminous stars and clouds as if right next to her. She just wanted to get away. She went for it after much thinking. Then she climbed over the edge and crawled downwards, gripping on any crack and crevice. There was a narrow ledge thirty feet below. She wanted to reach that, and hoped it would go somewhere. Suddenly, she lost her grip and fell. She hit the ledge but fell over it, and down into sky. She hit something else on the way down, and then was bumped heavily further below. She fell and it was as if she was flying forever.

She landed on her back. She felt nothing. Dawn broke and Tanya tried to get up, but her limbs hurt. Tanya managed to roll over and lift herself up gradually, but she couldn't feel her legs at all. Something hot trickled down her back. Her skull had cracked on the stone floor and was bleeding. Further now, she managed to sit up and couldn't stand. There was a horrific pain. Claws jammed into her skin, and tore a her clothes, ripping her flesh, while blood splashed and splattered.

A shadowcat found Tanya, and was going to eat her. She cried, and the cat lunged onto her, with its great mouth open, revealing enormous fangs. Tanya found a rock and she hit it across the head. She beat the shadowcat with the rock until it no longer breathed.

It was still too late for Tanya. She suffered tremendous blood loss and broken bones, while her head was cracked open.

There was a crash nearby that brought up a plume of dust. She was dazed and too hurt to notice what it was. She could not survive a second shadowcat. But it wasn't another shadowcat. To her astonishment, it was the knight Ser Vardis Egen! He'd fallen through the moon door, when Bronn the sellsword had beaten him and stabbed him. Vardis was still alive but not for long. She tried to call out to him but it hurt.

Vardis heard a voice and struggled to remove his helmet. He pulled it off but it hurt him to do this. He felt pain all over and blood oozed from an open wound in his shoulder. He vomitted blood. It felt as if all of his bones were broken. He turned and saw the crumpled bleeding maiden of the Stormlands. He wanted to go to her. He couldn't lift himself but he just was able to shift across the floor. A puddle of blood grew wider beneath him.

The knight and maiden crawled towards one another and it felt as if hours passed. Vardis passed out twice, and Tanya barely dragged herself across the stony ground. It was freezing cold, the spiteful wind slashed and pelted dust and sleet at them.

It was soon over. Vardis felt the woman's fingers touch his hand. He wanted to hold her, and kiss her but he didn't have the strength to do just that. Tanya wanted to fall into the knight's arms and lie against him. Instead they could just hold hands for a while. Then Tanya eased further towards him and placed her head against his breastplate. He put his arms around her to hold her close against him.

Tanya felt the knight's heavy breathing. It was cold. Blood soaked through her ragged clothes, that was once a beautiful blue dress. Vardis was ruined and felt the life pour from him with his blood. Vardis and the maiden Tanya closed their eyes. Soon they both felt no pain. Shadowcats emerged from behind the rocks and greedy vultures waited.


End file.
